Friday, September 29, 2006

Another Bitch List

Just for the hell of it, I thought I'd run a bitch list about all the shit flying around the blogosphere these days.How
about the lovely controversy in the RWA? With everyone lining up with
opinions about what "romance" is and talking about censorship.Then, there was the banned book week. That brought more "censorship" issues to the forefront.Now, there's more crap about what's appropriate on different sites. Some are dealing with what's appropriate and what's too hot.Frankly,
it all frustrates me. So, just for shits and giggles, I'm writing my
little list. Paulo, my pool boy, is tired of me bitching to him. We
have better things to do.

1. The constant reference to anything "hot" as "porn".There's
an element out there that's really against the erotic portions of
books. Now, I agree there has to be a limit, but some of us need that
shit when our pool boys get deported.

2. The absolute necessity for some people to have rigid definitions.We're
so fucking politically correct that sometimes we define EVERYTHING!!
Fuck that shit. If someone wants to write about two women in a
relationship, then I'll bet your ass someone wants to read it. If it's
really that bad, no one will fucking buy it. Why do people have to
cover their fucking asses all the time with "definitions". "This" is
romance. Whatever. There are men who think a kiss and "You ready?" is
romance. Let's get the fuck away from this shit.

3. The need for some to argue a point TO DEATH.You
know who I mean. The issue doesn't go their way. They have to blog and
comment and blog and comment until the rest of us are ready to put a
bullet in our brains. It's like a train wreck. You want to turn away.
But you can't. And the shit just keeps on going. I hate that shit.

4 The Ambulance ChasersYou
know these people too. LOVE controversy. They're the ones that keep it
going when it's over. They keep bringing that shit up, not because they
want to make a point (as in #3) but because they enjoy the fucking
drama. Whatever. They wander around LOOKING for shit to stir up. Then
they take a stick to whatever snake is hissing about it and start
poking. Just for the fucking fun of it. I hate these people.

5. It's never going to change.It's
been going on for years. Everybody just has access to more shit now.
Let's face it, moderation isn't en vogue these days. Soothing voices
are often ignored for the more snarky stuff. It's ok. That's why I keep
a bottle of Tequila and Paulo around. Sometimes it's just better to be
numb.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

All Fired Up....

3 shots (Can't say it's bad, but I've had better)--------------------------------------------------------------------Unfortunately,
that's precisely what doesn't happen with Bella Tyler's Charly's Fire.
I just couldn't get emotionally attached to her characters, and without
that connection, it was hard to care about what happened to them.

When
she dipped into Charly's point of view deep enough for readers to get
one liners like "Ms. Younger-Thinner-Better-in-bed", to describe her
ex-husband's new girlfriend, there was a hint of someone likable. But
Ms. Tyler didn't maintain this depth of point of view for long, and her
descriptions weren't tinged with the same wry voice. In fact, there was
a lot of 'telling' in these shorts, which made them struggle to be
engaging.

In fact, Charly wasn't very likeable. She does the
too-stupid-to-live thing of falilng asleep with candles burning. While
I realise that people fall asleep with candles burning all the time,
without any buildup explaining her utter exhaustion (12 hour shift at
Walmart?) or an emotional reaction afterward (ala I can't believe I did
that!) she just seemed like a self-absorbed, spoiled little rich girl.
(Tra-la, I burned the living room down, I guess I'll go buy new
furniture.)

Consistency issues bothered me: She wasn't once
examined for smoke inhalation, shock, or any other medical condition.
The fireman, after battling a fire in her house, rests his arm around
her shoulders (no mention of a bulky coat, or the slimy mixture of ash
and water...he's just wandering around in a Tshirt, I guess?)

And
as Ms. Tyler was trying to set the scene of a woman watching her home
go up in flames, and the utter terror that should be gripping her as
she realises she could be inside--she starts imagining her Firefighter
as a cowboy. It felt incongruous and out of place. If she'd imagined
him with a halo and wings, carrying her to safety, it might have been
less jarring.

The second story, while stronger, still didn't get
me to like Charlie. He's so busy imagining Anna naked that it's hard to
think of him as the chivalrous gentleman he pretends to be at the end
of their date. The fact is, he's imagining her naked, not making a love
connection. The descriptions of his lewd daydreams are given prominence
over any dialogue the two may have had to cement an actual 'romance'.

I
did, however, enjoy the way Ms. Tyler handled the conversation between
Charlie and Anna at the beginning of the piece. She made a convincing
case for Charlie meeting the Wrong Number Woman, without drawing out
the explanations. That section was a deft piece of writing. Although
the rest of the story didn't live up to the promise of that section, it
suggests to me that Ms. Tyler has great potential.

Charly
goes to sleep with a candle lit and finds her whole living room on
fire. She scrambles out onto the grass and gets lugged arounf by a
cowboy/fireman. Apparently, he's got one hell of a swagger. No one
checks to see if Charly has smoke inhalation, and she gets all hot and
bothered by the fireman who dumps her into a cab to a hotel.

Charly
has an OCD ex-husband that makes an entrance, but nothing ever happens
with his story line. He just cleans up the mess. There's the one night
stand misunderstandings all is hashed out and then, poof, end of story.

The
second story is about Charlie, a fireman who keep getting
bitch-out-the-boyfriend wrong phonecalls from a chick with a sexy
voice. They meet in a cafe and he discovers she's a girl he went to
high school with. They chat for hours and then she takes him home and
shags him. The End.

The main problem with Charly's Fire
is that it had no fire. The writing was flat and uninspired, and Ms.
Tyler never took the reader that deep into her character's emotions.
Most of the book had serious show vs. tell issues. I just wasn't
impressed. I was never engaged by the characters or the stories. I only
managed to make it through because Literary Sass broke out the whip.
She's a slave driver, that one.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

The Bitch Is A Fool Over "Fortune's Fool"

Literary Sass Rating:1 shot (A toast to a great book)----------------------------------------------------------------------

Ms.
Dennis is making a name for herself in the "nice" romance department.
In "Fortune's Fool" she covers both the heavy emotion of a mother
dealing with a son who is accidentally shot and the slightly lighter
emotions of new passion discovered. Valerie Torturro and Dylan Graves
meet when she's speeding to the hospital with her wounded son. Dylan is
the officer who ends up trying to pull her over for reckless driving.
The sight of blood and her wounded boy bring back horrible memories of
the death of his brother three years earlier. With this beginning, both
of them begin a journey of romance and reluctance that the writer gives
a gentle touch.The story is less about passion than the acceptance
the two characters need from each other and themselves. Best of all,
Ms. Dennis gives just as careful attention to her secondary characters.
If you're looking for hot sex and quick release, this ain't the book
for you. The story is focused on the romance and conflicts that effect
REAL people. Maybe that's why I loved this story. It seemed real,
but without being rude and ugly. Damn it, she did it again. Ms. Dennis,
you're giving yourself a reputation for old style romance in a world of
the titilating.Here's to you, Ms. Dennis. And it's no waste of Whiskey.One shot, baby.

The Wench Wasn't Fooled

Literary Sass Rating:2 shots (Bottoms up, this is good shit)----------------------------------------------------------------------

Let it be said, when Ms. Dennis makes it into print, and I wholeheartedly say it will happen, I will be the first to purchase this talented lady's writing. Every time I picked up Fortune's Fool, I
was drawn right back into the story. The characters are so in depth, so
emotionally charged and "visible", I couldn't help being sucked into
the story. Her writing is mature and smooth, articulate and balanced.

Fortune's Fool
is a contemporary story overall with real-to-life hardships of being a
single mother, the widow of a policeman killed in the line of duty.
Valerie is strong and vulnerable at the same time, moving forward with
cautious steps back into the world of the living, by first moving from
L.A., to then set up her own business in her new town.

When
disaster strikes, it strikes hard and fast. It hits so close to home,
that all at once she's bombarded with the emotional and physical
backlash and falls apart at the hospital. Not unbelievable in the least.

Dylan
is the man in the story, and again, he's so well drawn, you feel his
pain from the outset. He's also very community active and you get to
meet his other side, the personality without the badge. And he's damn
likeable.

Now before I gush too much and give away too much
about the story, it's time to get serious. There were a few things that
didn't work with me. First off, there's an epiphany moment for Valerie,
where she's explaining and feeling hurt. She's moved on with no help
and feels Dylan is criticizing her. (He's not.) The reason I bring this
up is because it took me three days to figure out that's what that
epiphany was. Whether my synapses weren't firing at the right moment or
not, who knows. I can only drink so much coffee in a day. But it didn't
come across at THAT moment and left me feeling the "What the hell was
that?" as I left it behind.

Second. There's a lot of interaction
with Dylan, Valerie and her son, Kyle. We see the friendships building,
we see Dylan and Kyle, but we never actually get Valerie's opinion on
what she believes her son would feel, think, etc. when she invites
Dylan for the night, or how her son might react to having a male figure
brought into their world. She brushes it off with mild concern.
Personally, if she had been alone for those years, her focus would be
deeper on her son than her own pesonal needs of the moment, especially
since at that point, the future between these two was still up in the
air.

The Price is Right

I
went into this story expecting a romance. I didn't get one. I got
historical fiction with some sex. And it was some good shit. I liked
this one. The writing was awesome, lush and detailed for such a short
work.

The Cost of Loyalty had two related teensy-short stories
set during the Vietnam War. The first is about Johnny, who loses the
love of his life, a Red Cross worker. He goes AWOL to view her body and
then gets captured by the Vietcong, seduced by a woman into remaining
in one place too long. The result is disastrous.

The second
story is about Johnny's best friend Rob, who is faced with court
martial for covering for Johnny's abscence. Thinking he has nothing
left to lose, he goes to find out what happened to his missing best
friend. He is ensnared by the same woman who captured Johnny, but fares
better.

I have to admit I was a bit freaked out by the fact that
both heroes shagged the same woman, who basically whored herself on
both of them.

I'm not telling you any more, you'll have to read
it to learn how it all turns out in the end. Just remember, this ain't
romance, so don't expect a happy ever after.

It cost me my loyalty...

This
pair of short stories weren't quite what I expected. For some reason, I
thought because they were short, they wouldn't be emotionally
gruelling. Perhaps some nice light reading.

I was wrong.

Despite
the fact they were short, the subject matter and setting (the Vietnam
War) had me tense from the first page. Mr. Foxx conveys the fear and
determination of these soldiers.

I had the definite impression,
while reading, that these were stories written by a man, which actually
increased the gut-wrenching effect of the romantic elements. It was
hard to think of Johnny's feelings as anything but honest. Realistic.
The bittersweet endings of these two stories were unforgettable, and I
have to admit that I found msyelf thinking everyone deserved better,
even the never-seen Georgia.

The scene-setting in the first
story took longer than I would have liked, suggesting that perhaps Mr.
Foxx has it in him to write some truly wonderful longer works. I found
myself truly liking and respecting Rob, which surprised me. Should he
choose, Mr. Foxx has a tortured hero for a sequel to these shorts.
(Perhaps even in that longer work I think he can write?)

Even if he chooses not to write that book in particular, I find myself looking forward to more work from Mr. Foxx in the future.

This
quick read by the Price sisters isn't up to their usual standard. The
story is unique and romantic. Sinclair is a "genie" trapped in a
Persian rug. Nora inherits the rug from her aunt and Sinclair has one
month with her. The genie is sent in the rug to meet the one woman who
will use one of the three wishes granted to her to free him.

The
sex scenes, as in every Price story, are fantastic. The complaint I had
was the romance in itself. There didn't seem to be the connection
between them that justified the love they felt for each other. Great
fucking does lead to love on occasion, but Sinclair seemed a goner
right off the bat. The only reason I could see for that is that Nora
fucked him five minutes after she met him. That seemed unreasonable to
me.

It's more likely that if a great looking, naked man rolled
out of a rug, a woman would be dialing 911 and demanding more answers
that Nora did. That unbelievability made the rest of the story a bit
"ho hum" for me. All the romance was lost for me when Nora jumped into
having fabulous sex with a genie whose primary purpose seemed to be to
sexually service his "master".

Don't get me wrong. As always,
the Price's wrote a compelling tale. In this case, however, I would
have liked to see a little less of the fucking and more of the dialogue
between them. All the romance was "thought" about, not shown to us.So, bottom line? Great idea, great sex, confusing motives. I didn't hate it, but it wasn't one I'd reread again.

What to do when a hunky genie grants you three wishes, and only one month to use them all?

That's
the premise of the story Blessing of the Storm, in a nutshell. So,
Sinclair isn't a genie, he's an Ifrit, but the distinction between the
two is never sufficiently explained, unless it was simply that Sinclair
was bound to a carpet instead of a lamp.

Despite the inherent
possibilities of this premise, Blessings never quite managed to catch
me up into its promised whirlwind. The prologue was almost
too-deliberately vague, with the promise that the things that didn't
make sense now, would soon. And they did, but almost too late for me to
be enraptured with the story. By the time I understood what had
happened in the prologue, it was too late for it to be emotionally
haunting, as it probably should have been.

While there is a
profusion of sex and thoughts of love in this story, Sinclair has a
vested interest in falling in love from the start. His very survival,
in fact. Knowing that, it is hard to find his attraction to Nora as
very romantic; more like self-preservation than love.

Nora's
fall into love is slightly more graceful, although she is rather quick
to jump into bed with the strange naked man who unrolls from a carpet
in her aunt's storeroom. With never a thought that he might have
escaped the local insane assylum, and with no concern at all when he
teleports them through the house, Nora is a very passive character. She
just lets stuff happen to her and smiles through it all.

That
earlier prologue? That was Clara, Nora's aunt, who sends Sinclair back
to his carpet when she realises that she's not the one for him. This
doesn't mean they haven't had their share of each other, though,
something that personally felt a little bit of wrong when he starts in
on her niece. Again, Nora doesn't seem to think anything of it, but I
should have expected that from her.

Then, of course, there was
The Catch. Like the Disney version of Aladdin, one good wish would
release Sinclair. But Nora has to figure out what the wish is. On her
own. Fortunately, Aunt Clara left Nora some clues in the form of a
rare book about Ifrit. Left on her own, Nora would probably have doomed
Sinclair to whatever death is dished out to Ifrit, and burned the
carpet as he requested when their time was up.

I was surprised
that the book lacked the usual 'in your face' attitude of much of the
Price sister's work. From what we've read from them so far, they seem
to enjoy stretching the boundaries of a readers comfort zone.
(Weresnakes, anyone?) Not only that, this one had awkward phrasing and
flat dialogue that I'm only hoping were tweaked in editting. (We had
the advance review copy, which often means uneditted.)